News flash. The planet doesn't need saving. Even if we had an all-out nuclear war that wiped out all living organisms, except for cockroaches and Keith Richards, the planet would still survive. Of course, the planet may look more like Uranus (yes, read that out loud) but will still be around. What anti-pollution efforts really are trying to do is save humans.

If Earth were to take on humans in a seven-game series, Earth would win in a landslide...or perhaps with a landslide. Just look at the human health devastation that the tsunami wrought on Japan, arguably one of the two most technologically advanced countries in the world. Humans are just not that powerful. Any time puny humans think they are stronger than the planet, the planet sends a reminder such as a hurricane, an earthquake or a snowstorm. Therein lies the issue. By restricting activities that may change the environment, humans are being neither charitable or nice but instead selfish and saving their behinds and other body parts.

Therefore, rather than "Save the Earth" or "Save the Planet," a more effective term may be "Save Humans" or "Protect Humans" or "Save Human Health" or "Save Our Butts" or "Help Us Not Lose to Bacteria and Slugs" or "Keep Mosquitoes from Overrunning Us" or "Don't Get Everyone Including You and Your Own Children Sick" or "Stop Pooping in the Bed That We All Have To Live In Or We Will All Get Sick" or some other combination. The trouble with terms such as "Climate Change," "Global Warming" and "Save the Planet" is that they may sound too distant or esoteric and not personal enough to resonate with people who are struggling to make ends meet. Tell people that something may make polar bears unhappy, and people may respond, "Glad that you have the time and money to think about polar bears while I am trying to put food on the table for my family." Tell people that something may give them and their kids cancer, heart disease or some other health problem, and they may be more likely to listen.

Environmentalists are concerned that President-elect Donald Trump will reverse the anti-pollution progress made by President Obama during his 8 years. Pictured here is Obama with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The United States and China on September 3 formally joined the Paris climate deal, with Obama hailing the accord as the "moment we finally decided to save our planet." (Photo: HOW HWEE YOUNG/AFP/Getty Images)

Indeed, negative stereotypes of environmentalists may be preventing others from understanding and supporting anti-pollution policies. As Tom Jacobs reports in Salon, studies published in European Journal of Social Psychology found that people characterized a “typical environmentalists” as a “tree-hugger” and “hippie” and would be “less motivated to adopt pro-environmental behaviors when these behaviors were advocated by the ‘typical’ environmentalist." In fact, Keith Kloor in Discover asks "Is Environmentalism Anti-Science?" He begins by saying:

Greens are often mocked as self-righteous, hybrid-driving, politically correct foodies these days (see this episode of South Park and this scene from Portlandia.) But it wasn’t that long ago—when Earth First and Earth Liberation were in the headlines—that greens were perceived as militant activists. They camped out in trees to stop clear-cutting and intercepted whaling ships and oil and gas rigs on the high seas.

Like all stereotypes, these stereotypes match only a fraction of the group, but end up hurting the whole group. Environmentalists are a diverse lot, just like any "group." Yes, some go too far, cause disruption and ask for unrealistic policies. Some may not really even care about the cause and instead have some other agenda, like appearing socially conscious, joining a fad, finding something to do, causing disruption or trying to get a date with another environmentalist. They may "grow" out of environmentalism when they finally get a date or need to move out of their parents' basement. Indeed, others may have genuine passion but are supporting causes that don't necessarily have the most impact. Moving along the spectrum of environmentalists, there are those promoting potentially impactful policies without the right scientific data. Finally, a number of environmentalists are actually armed with the appropriate scientific data and targeting key policies that everyone interested in humans and human health should support.

Without being careful, more cities and towns could become like New Delhi, India, where the air pollution is so bad that residents have difficulty breathing. (Photo: DOMINIQUE FAGET/AFP/Getty Images)